What began as rumors turned out to be one of the biggest roster change news of the year - Evil Geniuses would be torn in two. In December, it became official; Evil Geniuses was moving to NA, while Froggen and Wickd would stay in Europe to create a new team for the Alliance organization.

However, the pair were far from adrift with these changes. Both are regarded among the best in Europe, and were large factors for EG’s third place finish in the EU summer split. Alliance made them the core of the new team as their player manager, Jacob Toft-Andersen explains, “We spent a lot of time debating and trying out various lineups, with Froggen spearheading the development of the squad. We wanted to make sure that we had the best constellation of players possible.”

The roster quickly grew, and Alliance began drawing players from some of the best organizations in the region. Tabzz from Lemondogs and Shook from the Copenhagen Wolves soon joined Alliance, and both have fit well into their new team. Their play combined with substitute Kazmitch at the Battle of the Atlantic left no questions about it. They swept North America’s Team Dignitas in style, featuring a 5/0/3 score line for Shook in Game 1 while Tabzz went 11/1/3 in Game 2. The message was clear - these guys mean business.

The final nail in the coffin was last week’s news of SK Gaming’s Team Captain, Nyph, leaving SK to fill the final spot on Alliance. While the team is new, all five members of Alliance are seasoned, celebrated veterans. The die has been cast for an epic debut season.

All I n

Throwing skilled players together can sometimes result in personality conflicts and temper tantrums, but in other cases, the simplest motivations can be the strongest. Alliance’s recruitment strategy is possibly the most impressive thing to come out of the crazy roster changes last month. Alliance’s basic game plan? Toft-Andersen explains: “We wanted to make sure that … all [players] shared the same dream and motivation: Winning. Not just qualifying for World Finals, but actually coming out on top too!”

As evidenced from their pickups, the strategy clearly worked. Each player has been playing professionally for over a year (in most cases, closer to three), and none of them have ever taken home the gold in the LCS Playoffs. With a drive to win, it’s no wonder these players are banding together to make the strongest team possible. Wickd is one of the instigators for the team, and he sees a clear trend amongst his teammates, “Our team's biggest strength is that we all share the same goal which is winning and everything goes towards that one goal.”

Helping them reach that goal is their superior gameplay. They play an aggressive style with a combination of precision and brute force, as evidenced by their Battle of the Atlantic games.. Wickd outlines their tactics: “We're aiming at forcing enemies into making mistakes by creating enough pressure to do so.”

Their only weakness right now is the novelty of the team, and the fact that they're still becoming acquainted as teammates. With barely a month of practice time together, there'll be to be opportunities for more cohesive teams to throw Alliance into disarray. Despite their victory over Team Dignitas, even Wickd has to admit, “LCS will be the real testing ground.”

Player to Watch: Froggen

Headlining the team is Froggen. Not only did he lead the player search complete the roster, but his precise play in mid lane will be a deciding factor in their games going forward. As a player who has excelled as an AP carry, Froggen's one of the most exciting players in Europe right now, and when on point (as he was with his spears and barrels at the Battle of the Atlantic), he's simply a treat to watch, and a scary threat to any opponent.

Together with the rest of his team, Froggen’s ability to be aggressive will be put to the test. A perfect example is in their second game against Dignitas at the Battle of the Atlantic - a Shook gank goes in favor for Alliance, netting Shook an impressive double kill. But the real kicker is when Froggen steals doublebuffs off Kiwikid by blocking the escape path. The verdict so far? He has not disappointed.